1. Field of Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate in general to Internet telephony. More specifically, the embodiments of the invention relate to a method and a system for mode identification of telephony devices in Internet telephony.
2. Description of the Background Art
Voice-based communication is commonly used to share information in a network. The network may be a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a circuit-switched network such as a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and so forth. Devices such as a circuit-switched telephone, a wireless cellular phone, a soft phone, an IP phone, and so forth can be used for voice-based communication. Each of these devices is capable of operating in various modes, such as the speaker mode, the handset mode, and other modes available on the devices
Users can share confidential and privileged information in a voice-based communication network. Further, they may want to share this information with only a particular listener among a group of listeners. In such a case, the listener can use the headset mode. However, the user may not know the mode used by the listener. Consequently, confidentiality can be breached if the listener is not on the headset or handset mode.
Conventionally, such a confidentiality breach is avoided manually. In a circuit-switched network phone, a wireless cellular phone and an IP phone, the user can request the listener to use a particular mode. The request can be made by sending a message in the case of a soft-phone, a wireless cellular phone, and an IP phone with messaging facility. The request to switch to the particular mode can also be made over the telephony device.
Communication protocols such as Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and Global System for Mobile telecommunications (GSM), etc., may be used to communicate over the network. However, these protocols do not provide techniques for automatic identification of the mode.